Machine for opening and flattening seams.



APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1912.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

2 SHEETS8HEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COUWASHINGTDN, D. c.

FRED w. (JOAN, or

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MACHINE FOR OPENING AND FLATTENING- SEAIVIS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Faun V7. Conn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ma chines for Opening and Flattening Seams, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for opening, smoothing and flattening seams in knitted, textile and other fabrics.

In the manufacture of many classes of garments and the like, the sewing of the goods results in projecting seams which must of necessity be smoothed or flattened out before the garment is ready to wear. For example, in the manufacture of knit underwear the sewing of the adjacent edges of the garment leaves a projecting ridge like seam known as an over edge seam which must be flattened out in the process of manufacture. My invention is adapted and intended for this type of work generally, and it has proved in use peculiarly adapted for the smoothing and flattening of the over edge seams of knit underwear.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of my invention,- Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a seam flattening machine, embodying one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 83 of Fig. 4L; Fig. 4. is a front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 with the plate J removed; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the striker; and Fig. 7 is a section on line A--A of Fig. 3.

A is the machine head or frame having a lower frame member A and an upper frame member A The driving shaft (not shown) is provided with a bevel gear B which meshes with a bevel gear B fast on a counter shaft C journaled in said head A and offsetrat C to form a crank. Within said head A and near the base thereof there is journaled a shaft D provided with a crankarm cZ connected by a pitman 0 with the crank offset 0. Said shaft D is also pro vided with a crank-arm (Z having a sliding bearing d for the crank-pin e secured to the end of the crank E which is fast to the rock-shaft F. Said roek-shaft F, is pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 24, 1912.

Patented Aug. 26,1913.

Serial No. 705,381.

vided with suitable bearings in the lower frame member A of the machine head A, and has a cam Gr fast on its outer end.

At the base of the machine head or frame A, upon two bearing points it, is a shaft H provided with a crank 71, to which is secured one end of a pitman 0 The other end of said pit-man c is forked, the arms of the fork being formed as plates 0 which embrace a cam 0 fast to the countershaft C. Said shaft H is further provided with a crank k to which is secured a bar I, provided with suitable bearings and extending along the lower frame member A above the rock-shaft F. The link N is pivoted at a to the pitman c and at n to the machine head or frame A.

Near the outer end of the lower frame member A is secured an anvil plate J having parallel. slots j and a plurality of projections y" spaced apart and located between said slots j. Preferably the plate J projects beyond the end of the lower frame member A and is provided with a seam guide j for the purpose presently to be described.

Upon the lower frame member A below the plate J is mounted a feed plate K which constitutes the feeder hereinafter referred to. The said feed plate or feeder is centrally slotted to permit the upper working face thereof to be raised above the plane of the face of the plate J in the manner presently to be described and has a rearward extension which is secured to the outer end of the bar I. A spring is also secured to the outer end of the bar I, bears against a portion of the lower frame member A to press the bar I downward into contact with the cam G on the upper end of the rock-shaft F. The end of the bar I is squared and the web A near the outer end of the lower frame member A, is cut away to form a sliding bearing for the squared end of the bar I. The lower frame member A is also cut away at its end to afford room for the feed plate K in its lower position.

It will be clear that the movement of the countershaft C transmitted through the crank offset 0, pitman 0, crank-arms cl, 0Z crank-pin e and crank E, gives to the rock shaft F, and the cam G secured thereto, a rocking motion; and that the movement of the countershaft C transmitted through the pitman 0 link N, crank it, shaft H, and crank If, gives to the bar I a longitudinal reciprocating motion, so that the feed plate K being fast to the rod I, and the rod I being in contact with the cam G, the feed plate is given an up-and-down and backand-forth motion, that is, a characteristic four motion feed movement.

Upon the upper frame member A and above the plate I, is a striker consisting of a rod L mounted in suitable guide-blocks Z and having a head L provided with a plurality of crossbars Z adapted to pass between the projections j of the plate J when the head L is brought against the plate J, as presently to be described. It will be apparent. that the cross-bars Z are in effect dentations adapted to register with the openings between the projections j on the plate J. Therefore, if desired, the head L may be made solid and provided with projectionsor dentations adapted to register with said openings between the projections j. Preferably, the inner end or tail 7 of the head L is wedge-shape, as shown in dotted lines at W in Fig. 6, to aid in the flattening out of the seam after it has been fed over and passed beyond the projections j.

A spring M surrounding the rod L and held between one of said guide-blocks Z and a block Z on said rod, serves normally to hold said head L against said anvil plate J. For convenience in inserting and removing the work, the said block Z is preferably provided with a lug Z, and a cam Z adapted to cooperate therewith is pivoted to the machine head or frame A, whereby the head L may be lifted and held out of contact with the plate J.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The operator raises the striker by means of the cam Z and places the material Z upon the anvil plate J, the seam being laid across the projections j and the seam guide The striker is then brought down upon the material, the cross-bars Z on the head L forcing the seam downwardly between the projections j, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. When new the power is applied, the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 3, the feed plate K by reason of the actuating means already described performs its characteristic four-feed motion. First, it rises through the parallel slots j of the anvil plate J, and, overcoming the force of the spring M, forces the head L and the material out of contact with the anvil plate. It then moves toward the left, as viewed in the drawings (Figs. 1 and 3), retaining the material and head L out of contact with the anvil plate and feeding the material forward. It then drops below the plane of the face of the anvil plate, thus permitting the force of the spring M to return the head L into contact with the anvil plate with the material held therebetween. It then moves to the right, as viewed in the drawings, to the position from which it started.

It will be clear that when the feed plate at the end of its movement to the left drops suddenly below the plane of the face of the anvil plate, the force of the spring M will cause the head L to strike upon the anvil plate wit-h a sharp percussive blow, the cross-bars 0r dentations Z forcing the seam down between the projections j. It will be apparent that when the seam is thus forced down between the projections 7', it is not only pounded but also stretched longitudinally, and as the action of the machine is very rapid the seam is subjected many times to this stretching and pounding before it is fed out from between the striker and anvil plate. As a result of this longitudinal stretching and pounding, the seam is stretched, opened and flattened; It is then fed under the wedge-shaped tail piece W of the head L and subjected to lateral stretching and further pounding, so that when the seam is finally fed out from beneath the striker it has been thoroughly stretched, opened and flattened.

lVhat I claim and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent, is:

1. A machine of the class described, comprising a feeder adapted to feed material, means for longitudinally stretching and flattening a portion of a seam in said material, and means for subsequently laterally stretching said portion of the seam.

2. A machine of the class described, comprising a striking member and an anvil member, one of said members having a plurality of projections spaced apart, and the other of said members having a dentation adapted to register with the opening between said projections, and means to actuate said striking member.

3. A machine of the class described, comprising a striking member and an anvil member, one of said members having a projection and the other of said members having an opening to permit said projection to pass therein, and means to actuate said striking member.

4. A machine of the class described, comprising a striking member, an anvil memher, and a feeder, one of said members having a projection and the other of said members having an opening to permit said proj ection to pass therein, and means to actuate said striking member.

5. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a projection, and a striker having an opening adapted to permit said projection to pass therein, and means to actuate said striker.

6. A machine of the class described, com prising an anvil plate having a projection, and a striker having an opening adapted to permit said projection to pass therein, a feeder, and means to actuate said striker.

7. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of projections spaced apart, a striker having a plurality of crossbars adapted to pass between said projections, and means to actuate said striker.

8. A machine of the class described, comprising a plate having a projection, a springpressed striker located above said plate and having an opening to permit said projections to pass therein, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to raise said striker, and means to actuate said feeder.

9. A machine of the class described, comprising a plate having a plurality of projections spaced apart, a spring-pressed striker located abovesaid plate and having a plurality of cross-bars adapted to pass between said projections, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to raise said striker, and means to actuate said feeder.

10. A machine of the class described, comprising a plate having a plurality of projections spaced apart, a springpressed striker located. above said plate and having a dentation adapted to register with the opening be tween said projections, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to raise said striker, and means to actuate said feeder.

11. A machine of the class described, comprising a striker, an anvil plate, and means normally to hold said striker against said anvil plate, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to force said striker out of contact with said anvil plate, and means to actuate said feeder.

12. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a projection, a striker having an opening adapted to permit said projection to pass therein, means normally to hold said striker against said anvil plate, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to force said striker out of contact with said anvil plate, and means to actuate said feeder.

13. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of projections spaced apart, a striker having a plurality of cross-bars adapted to pass between said projections, means normally to hold said striker against said anvil plate, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to force said striker out of contact with said anvil plate, and means to actuate said feeder.

14. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of projections spaced apart, a striker having a head provided with a plurality of cross-bars adapted to pass between said projections, a

spring adapted normally to hold said head against said anvil plate, a feeder adapted to feed material and intermittently to force said head out of contact with said anvil plate, and means to actuate said feeder.

15. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of longitudinal slots and a plurality of projections located therebetween and spaced apart, a striker having a head provided with a plurality of cross-bars adapted to pass between said projections, means normally to hold said head against said plate, a feeder located under said anvil plate and having a central longitudinal slot, means intermittently to raise said feeder to force said head out of contact with said anvil plate and thereafter to lower said feeder to permit said head to return to normal position against said anvil plate, and said feeder adapted to feed ma terial.

16. A machine of the class described, comprising a striker, an anvil plate, and means normally to hold said striker against said anvil plate, a feeder adapted to feed the ma terial and intermittently to force said striker out of contact with said anvil plate, and means to actuate said feeder comprising a rock-shaft provided with a cam, and a reciprocating rod yieldingly held against said cam.

17. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of longitudinal slots and a plurality of pro ections located therebetween and spaced apart, a striker having a head provided with a plurality of cross-bars adapted to pass between said projections, means normally to hold said head against said plate, a feeder located under said anvil plate and having a central longitudinal slot, means comprising a rock-shaft provided with a cam, and a reciprocating rod yieldingly held against said cam intermittently to cause said feeder to force said head out of contact with said anvil plate, and thereafter to lower said feeder to permit said head to return to normal position against said anvil plate, and said feeder adapted to feed the material.

18. A machine of the class described, comprising an anvil plate having a plurality of projections, and a striker having a head provided with a wedge-shaped tail, and a dentation adapted to register with the opening between said projections, a feeder adapted to feed material and to actuate said striker to flatten a seam in the material.

Signed by me at lillanchester, New Hampshire, this 15th day of June 1912.

FRED COAN.

Vitnesses Jesse B. Pnrrnn, GHAUNCEY l3. Lrr'rLnrInLn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

